Mid. Kingd. (Google Books ⧉, Amazon ⧉, Bookshop ⧉)

The Travels of Marco Polo

Note 5.—Van Braam, in passing through Shan-tung Province, speaks of very large pears. “The colour is a beautiful golden yellow. Before it is pared the pear is somewhat hard, but in eating it the juice flows, the pulp melts, and the taste is pleasant enough.” Williams says these Shan-tung pears are largely exported, but he is not so complimentary to them as Polo: “The pears are large and juicy, sometimes weighing 8 or 10 pounds, but remarkably tasteless and coarse.” (V. Braam, II. 33–34; Mid. Kingd., I. 78 and II. 44).